The Responsible University Exploring the Nordic Context and Beyond Edited by Mads P. Sørensen · Lars Geschwind Jouni Kekäle · Rómulo Pinheiro The Responsible University Mads P. Sørensen Lars Geschwind • Jouni Kekäle Rómulo Pinheiro Editors The Responsible University Exploring the Nordic Context and Beyond ISBN 978-3-030-25645-6 ISBN 978-3-030-25646-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25646-3 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019 This book is an open access publication Open Access This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adapta- tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and indicate if changes were made. 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Sørensen The Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy Department of Political Science Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark Jouni Kekäle University of Eastern Finland Joensuu, Finland Lars Geschwind Department of Learning in Engineering Sciences KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, Sweden Rómulo Pinheiro Department of Political Science University of Agder Kristiansand, Norway v The Responsible University: Exploring the Nordic Context and Beyond exam- ines how the notion of responsibility manifests itself at various levels and in different phenomena within Nordic higher education institutions and beyond. The book looks at the history and current transformations of the idea of the responsible university; it investigates experiences with innova- tions such as MOOCs, co-creation and other third-mission activities; and it sheds light on how universities have begun to reorganise them- selves through mergers and interdisciplinary arrangements to become more responsible. This book is the product of a series of workshops that took place in Aarhus, Stockholm and Koli in 2017 and 2018 under the heading ‘Moving Towards the Responsible University? A cross-disciplinary net- work on higher education’s role in the context of growing social and eco- nomic inequalities’. We would like to thank NOS-HS—the joint committee for Nordic research councils in the humanities and social sciences—which gener- ously funded our network activities under the project no. 2016-00261/ NOS-HS. We would also like to thank all the participants in the network meetings for their enthusiasm in exploring, presenting and discussing ideas of the responsible university as well as for their original contribu- tions to this book. Finally, we would also like to thank Palgrave Macmillan, Preface vi Preface in particular, Jemima Warren, Eleanor Christie and Rebecca Wyde, for their professionalism and support in publishing this book. Aarhus, Denmark Mads P. Sørensen Stockholm, Sweden Lars Geschwind Joensuu, Finland Jouni Kekäle Kristiansand, Norway Rómulo Pinheiro May 2019 vii The following organizations provided financial support for the publica- tion of this volume as Open Access: University of Agder, Norway University of Eastern Finland, Finland Tampere University, Finland KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden University of Helsinki, Finland Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway The editors would also like to acknowledge the Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS) grant number dnr 2016–00261/NOSHS. Acknowledgements ix Part I Introduction 1 1 Responsible Universities in Context 3 Lars Geschwind, Jouni Kekäle, Rómulo Pinheiro, and Mads P. Sørensen Part II History and Current Transformations 31 2 The Changing Meanings of ‘Responsible University’. From a Nordic-Keynesian Welfare State to a Schumpeterian Competition State 33 Mikko Kohvakka, Arto Nevala, and Hanna Nori 3 The Modernisation Agenda and University Irresponsibility Repertoires 61 Paul Benneworth Contents x Contents 4 Lost in Transition? On the Migration to English Language Research Publications 87 Mads P. Sørensen, Mitchell Young, and Pernille Bak Pedersen Part III New Innovations 115 5 Higher Education; For Free, For Everyone, For Real? Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and the Responsible University: History and Enacting Rationalities for MOOC Initiatives at Three Swedish Universities 117 Linda Barman, Cormac McGrath, and Christian Stöhr 6 Co-creation with Companies: A Means to Enhance Societal Impact of University Researchers? 145 Kirsi Pulkkinen and Antti Hautamäki 7 Does a Responsible University Need a Third Mission? 173 James Karlsen and Miren Larrea Part IV Organising for Responsibility 201 8 Technical Education in Jeopardy? Assessing the Interdisciplinary Faculty Structure in a University Merger 203 Tea Vellamo, Elias Pekkola, and Taru Siekkinen 9 Responsible University: In Search of HR and Leadership Solutions 233 Jouni Kekäle and Jenni Varis xi Contents 10 The Responsible University in Southeast Asia: A Tale of the Transition from an Elite to a Mass Higher Education System 257 Laila Nordstrand Berg, Rómulo Pinheiro, Puguh Prasetya Utomo, and Pradnika Yunic Nurhayati Part V Conclusion 289 11 Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Towards a Nordic Model of the Responsible University? 291 Rómulo Pinheiro, Lars Geschwind, Jouni Kekäle, and Mads P. Sørensen Index 313 xiii Linda Barman KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden Paul Benneworth Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway Laila Nordstrand Berg Department of Political Science and Management, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway Lars Geschwind KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden Antti Hautamäki University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland James Karlsen University of Agder, Grimstad, Norway Jouni Kekäle University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland Mikko Kohvakka University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland Miren Larrea Orkestra-Basque Institute of Competitiveness, University of Deusto, San Sebastian, Spain List of Contributors xiv List of Contributors Cormac McGrath Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Arto Nevala University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland Hanna Nori University of Turku, Turku, Finland Pradnika Yunic Nurhayati National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan Pernille Bak Pedersen Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Elias Pekkola Tampere University, Tampere, Finland Rómulo Pinheiro Department of Political Science and Management, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway Kirsi Pulkkinen University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland Taru Siekkinen University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland Mads P. Sørensen Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Christian Stöhr Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden Puguh Prasetya Utomo Department of Political Science and Management, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Jenni Varis University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland Tea Vellamo Tampere University, Tampere, Finland Mitchell Young Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic xv Fig. 2.1 Proportional participation of children from different socio- economic groups in university education in the years 1950– 2010. Sources : Socio-economic background of new university students from 1925 to 2010; Demographic statistics of Finland, years 1960–2010 43 Fig. 2.2 Representation of university students’ parents (upper and lower white-collar employees and blue-collar workers) per dis- cipline (%), mothers and fathers combined, in 2014 50 Fig. 4.1 Share of English, Danish and third language research publica- tions, all Danish universities and Aarhus University. Source : The national database, “Forskningsdatabasen.dk” 93 Fig. 4.2 The development in English, Danish and third language research publications across the four main scientific areas in Denmark. Source : The national database, “Forskningsdatabasen. dk” 94 Fig. 4.3 Share of English, Danish and third language research publica- tions across four main areas at Aarhus University. Source : The local “PURE” database at Aarhus University 95 List of Figures xvi List of Figures Fig. 4.4 The development in the share of English, Danish and third language research publications at the Department of Management and the School of Communication and Culture at Aarhus University. Source : The local “PURE” database at Aarhus University 95 Fig. 6.1 The SECI model, adapted from Nonaka and Konno (1998) and Nonaka et al. (2001) 151 Fig. 6.2 The SECI Model in Co-creation 166 Fig. 9.1 HR leadership model for a Responsible University: How lead- ers can foster innovations 247 Fig. 10.1 Tertiary enrolments in Indonesia: 1971–2016 (% gross). Source: Economics (2018) 261 xvii Table 2.1 Factors having an impact on university admission in 2003 and 2014 47 Table 3.1 University irresponsibility repertoires as manifestations of public value failure 68 Table 3.2 Systemic factors driving university public value failures 80 Table 4.1 Push and pull factors in the migration from Danish to English language research publications 97 Table 4.2 What is gained and what is lost in the migration to English language 108 Table 5.1 MOOC offerings 2014–2019 131 Table 5.2 MOOC rationalities at Karolinska Institutet, Chalmers and KTH 132 Table 7.1 Regional responsibility in tightly and loosely coupled organisations 179 Table 8.1 Summary of the main stakeholders, university responsibilities towards them and what interdisciplinarity could provide for them 215 Table 8.2 Summary of the aspects interdisciplinarity is considered to jeopardise from the perspective of technical education stakeholders 223 List of Tables Part I Introduction 3 © The Author(s) 2019 M. P. Sørensen et al. (eds.), The Responsible University , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25646-3_1 1 Responsible Universities in Context Lars Geschwind, Jouni Kekäle, Rómulo Pinheiro, and Mads P. Sørensen Responsible Organisations Responsibility has become a catchword in all organisations, and it has become commonplace for business organisations to stress their responsi- ble position and behaviour. The key areas of their attention tend to L. Geschwind ( * ) KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden e-mail: larsges@kth.se J. Kekäle University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland e-mail: Jouni.kekale@uef.fi R. Pinheiro Department of Political Science and Management, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway e-mail: romulo.m.pinheiro@uia.no M. P. Sørensen Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark e-mail: mps@ps.au.dk 4 include responsibility for the environment, social responsibility, financial responsibility, as well as quality and sustainability issues. The aim is to shape a sustainable future for business and operations and to show that investments in the area serve good purposes not only in terms of profit for stakeholders (as in business organisations) but also in a broader social and ecological sense. 1 The term ‘responsible’ has different meanings and connotations depending on the individuals or organisations involved, their immediate geographical, cultural and political contexts, as well as historical periods. According to Webster’s (1994) dictionary, the term includes connota- tions of both (a) being accountable for external powers or stakeholders for one’s decision and actions and (b) containing the capacity for one’s own (moral) decisions, rational thought and action. In other words, if forced, a person could not be held responsible for the outcomes. There is also a connotation of the responsible actor being reliable or dependable. Synonyms for responsible include accountable, amenable, answerable and liable, whereas antonyms include irresponsible, non-accountable and unaccountable. 2 Higher education institutions (HEIs) presently make up a large proportion of national gross domestic products (GDPs) and their activities affect many people, including staff, students (and parents), employers and other stakeholders. This impact is particularly so in sys- tems like those in the Nordic countries with high participation rates and significant investments in research. These investments come with expec- tations. HEIs are expected to contribute to the development and resil- ience of societies. They are supposed to provide students with high-quality, relevant education, useful in both short term and over time. They are also producers of knowledge, supposedly with an impact on the cultural, social, political, technological and economic development of our societ- ies. Societal demands are thus high, and rightly so, which is shown in an increasingly active debate on higher education (HE) and research. This volume deals with the notion of responsibility and its relation to HEIs, in particular publicly run and funded universities. Our examples are mainly from the Nordic countries, which are often considered as responsible societies in many ways, for instance, with respect to account- able governments and transparent institutions (Hilson 2008). However, L. Geschwind et al. 5 our aim is also to provide insights and lessons for the sector as a whole. Given the broad use of the term responsibility, it is no wonder that higher education institutions also feel the need to show that they are operating in a responsible manner. We can identify several reasons for this desire to portray sound operations. First, there appears to be a broad awakening to environmental issues, such as climate change, and other global challenges (Johnsen et al. 2015). Universities are key play- ers in providing new knowledge; hence, it is easy to conclude that they can play a role in overcoming such challenges (Greu et al. 2017). Kaldeway (2018) noted that ‘grand challenges’ have become a domi- nant theme in scientific discussions and funding schemes in the twenty- first century. Universities are perhaps the organisation best positioned to answer issues in need of systematic and long-term thinking and enquiry on any matter. On the other hand, due to their strong social embeddedness (Ramirez 2009), universities tend to take over responsi- bilities for various kinds of social problems, 3 perhaps even when they lack the means and measures for promoting such goals. Second, all fashionable concepts and movements tend to spread and produce nor- mative pressure for other fields and operators, thus contributing to the broadening of the use of the concept, both insofar adoption as well as adaptation (Beerkens 2010). Third, we can identify a long-term, exter- nal increase of accountability and numerous responsibilities on univer- sities (Hazelkorn et al. 2018), also in the Nordic countries (Hansen et al. 2019; Pinheiro et al. 2019). The expectations on ‘responsibility’ by universities from multiple stakeholders appear to have persisted (Bok 1982; Neave 2002), but the manifestations and expectations for solutions in reaching ‘responsibility’ in higher education seem to have changed. In different eras, there have been different assumptions as regards how higher education provides society with public goods (Kekäle et al. 2017); with more recent developments (from Europe) emphasising the instrumental role of universities in directly tackling social issues such as economic development and climate change (Maassen and Olsen 2007). The ongoing discussion on university responsibility, amongst policy and academic circles alike, goes well along with these external pressures. 1 Responsible Universities in Context 6 The Responsible University: A Concept, Its Relatives and Its Opposites The university is not a monolithic single institution, but rather best described as an array of multiple, complex and loosely coupled structures (Pinheiro and Young 2017). The term ‘multiversity’ (Kerr 2001) has been used as a way of characterising the various, sometimes conflicting, func- tions and roles that modern university systems address (see also Castells 2001). A number of concepts pertaining to the social role of HEIs can be found in the literature. Like firms, HEIs have started to act in novel, entrepreneurial ways aimed at gradually reducing their dependence on state funding, which amongst other aspects includes adopting market- like mechanisms (Etzkowitz 2001). Entrepreneurial universities take risks in combining old identities with new structural features such as strength- ening their decision-making structures and bridging their core functions with the outside world (Clark 1998). This contrasts with the notion of the ‘civic university’ where social engagement is intrinsically linked to teaching and research as well as conceived as an institution-wide activity providing academics with a sense of purpose (Goddard et al. 2016). Similarly, Benneworth (2013) and Watson et al. ( 2011) refer to the ‘engaged university’ as one where academics and managers take a promi- nent role in addressing critical issues facing its surrounding communities within the context of social justice and moral responsibility. These range from poverty and social exclusion (inequality) to help in tackling envi- ronmental hazards. More often than not, the aforementioned social challenges best resolve in the form of multiple interdisciplinary collaborations and close collabo- ration with various stakeholder groups, along the lines of the ‘Mode 2’ university (Harloe and Perry 2004). The concept of the ‘triple helix’ has been popular amongst policymakers and university managers alike as a way of conceiving of mutually beneficial interactions between HEIs and public and private actors (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff 2000). In Europe, the so-called knowledge triangle has emphasised the importance of the social impact derived from HEIs’ activities, by strategically articulating the core functions of teaching and research with innovation and engagement as emergent tasks for all HEIs (Maassen and Stensaker L. Geschwind et al.